Florida politicians seek secrecy, longer terms

January 23, 2014|Scott Maxwell, TAKING NAMES

I've gotten some weird email and phone calls through the years.

A marriage proposal. Several requests to drop dead. A woman once calling with her mouth full of food, saying she was pretty sure she hated my column — but wanted me to read it to her over the phone, so she could be sure.

But you know what readers hardly ever ask for?

Politicians to stay in office longer.

Yet that is precisely what Florida legislators are once again proposing — longer terms.

House Resolution 613 would ask Floridians to extend the eight-year cap that voters overwhelmingly approved in 1992 to 12 years.

Now, there are legitimate debates to be had about term limits and longer terms. (For instance, two-year terms mean the money chase is pretty much nonstop.)

But not in Florida — not until legislators stop gerrymandering the districts.

Right now, districts are rigged so precisely to favor certain candidates and parties that it's essentially an incumbent-protection act. Incumbents rarely lose. One year, none did ... in the entire state.

That's why the people who most often call for longer terms are the lobbyists who cozy up to the incumbents — and the politicians themselves.

Vote no to secrecy

Another proposal calls for more secrecy at state universities and colleges.

Specifically, House Bill 135 would let schools keep applications for top jobs secret at the early stages — something the politicians would love, because they're often the ones applying for the gigs!

Seriously, think about how many legislators have managed to feather their own nests by snagging a university job (or bogus book deal) at the schools they help fund. Of course they'd like to keep that quiet.

Much like the term-limit bill, there are some fair points to be made about confidentiality when it comes to hiring. But the politicians in this state have done nothing to earn the benefit of the doubt.

Quick kudos

•To Osceola County for getting serious about homelessness.

•And to Ocoee for considering merging its fire services with Orange County. More local governments should look at consolidation to cut waste.

The at-odds couple

If you live in Florida, I have bad news for you: You're pretty irrelevant in the U.S. Senate.

Those were the findings of a New York Times study that found Florida was second only to Wisconsin in the number of times its two senators voted different ways on the same issue.

Expressway to nonsense

So the Orlando-Orange Expressway Authority thumbed its nose at State Attorney Jeff Ashton, defying his request that members delay hiring a new director until Ashton had finished investigating the ousting of the previous one.

They seem to think Ashton's bluffing — a brazen position to take against a man with a grand jury.

Still, the board made some minor concessions, putting former legislator Steve Precourt (who didn't meet the agency's qualifications for the job) on a month-to-month contract. But they still offered him a one-month severance package.

So let's do the math. Even if Precourt works only one month at $15,000 and then gets ousted (receiving severance worth another $15,000), he will have made more money than he made in an entire year as a legislator ($29,700).

Still, the deal wasn't up to snuff for Precourt, who told the board it was "showing weakness" by not giving him the bigger contract and fatter severance package.

Hmm. If Precourt really thinks the deal is so lousy, one reader suggested Precourt prove it — and turn it down. That would sure show us.